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Today’s headline is a reference to “My Mind Is Playing Tricks on Me,” the Geto Boys’ banger from 1991 that remains one of my favorite songs 35 years later. I’m not alone in my praise, as the song’s sweet beats and storytelling lyrics about stress of various sorts causing hallucinations and other paranoiac effects transcended from the hip-hop charts to the mainstream Top 100. That was long before such rap-to-pop crossover happened much, especially for gangsta rappers from Houston who recounted mistaking Gold Medal Flour for cocaine, drifting while driving with thoughts of suicide, and robbing trick-or-treaters for bags.
Although Halloween does indeed fall on a weekend this year — Saturday, October 31, for the forgetful or calendrically challenged — I do not know of any Geto Boys–themed gatherings. But my inbox is filling up with otherwise tantalizing Halloween happenings that are using the weekend timing to really go all out. Here’s a rundown.
Project Shh in Los Alamos
This is the most ambitious murder mystery party I’ve ever encountered, involving three dozen participants organized into four teams that will be scouring Los Alamos for clues all weekend long. Based in the 1880 Union Hotel — where the rather reasonable $800 to $1,200 per person tickets include a bed, two candlelit dinners, and a bunch of fun in between — the weekend’s original, one-time-only script is built around Salomón Pico, the Zorro-inspiring outlaw for which the nearby Solomon Hills are named.
The mystery starts on Friday, October 30, and runs through Sunday, November 1, with 14 proprietors of businesses in Los Alamos enlisted to serve guests and act out their own roles in the performance. It is the fifth Halloween weekend created by Matt Olson and his Project Shh company, and the first ever that’s open to the public. He answered a few questions for us.
How did this come to Los Alamos?
Matt Olson: I’ve been making these kinds of immersive experiences in real historic and haunted places across the U.S. and Australia for the last five years. When I started digging into Salomón Pico and realized his story was tied to Drum Canyon, right on the edge of this little town, and that the 1880 Union Hotel had been the last stagecoach stop before the canyon, it felt different from anything else I’d found. The history, the landscape, the hotel… it all already lined up.
I’m based in New York, so I flew out to see it for myself. I sat at the bars, walked the street, and talked to people who actually live here. You can feel the place pretty quickly. It has this quiet intensity, beautiful on the surface, with something older and darker just underneath. Los Alamos didn’t feel like a location I was choosing. It felt like it had already chosen the story.
Why is Los Alamos ideal for this?
Honestly, I didn’t invent a world for this. I found one that was already here.Los Alamos sits right at the mouth of Drum Canyon, the same stretch of road where Salomón Pico, the real Californio outlaw often cited as one of the inspirations for Zorro, used to lie in wait and ambush travelers during the Gold Rush. The 1880 Union Hotel in the middle of town was built as the last stagecoach stop before that road. That history never really left. It just got layered over with wine bars, antique shops, and interesting people with stories to tell, and of course good food.
What struck me is that the people here know both sides of the place. They know the wine and the hospitality, and they also know the darker stories that still linger in the hills and along that canyon road. So when we bring guests into town for the weekend, we’re not dropping them into a set. We’re inviting them into a place that already has the bones of the story — the hotel, the businesses on Bell Street, the cemetery, the canyon itself. The town isn’t a backdrop. It’s part of the experience.
What will participants enjoy most?
It’s for people who want to step out of the everyday and drop into something completely different — and who want to do it with people they’ve never met. Most dinner or murder mystery experiences last a couple of hours. This one is two nights. By Sunday you know things about your fellow guests that their coworkers don’t. That’s the part people don’t expect and can’t stop talking about.
The experience itself keeps guests off-balance in the best way. The history of this place is documented. The mystery we build on top of it is invented. Over the course of the weekend that line keeps moving, and most guests stop trying to keep them separate. You’re not just watching a story — you’re inside a world that feels a long way from your own. With good food and wine, of course!
Book your tickets at concierge.projectshh.com.
Draughtsmen’s Killer Renaissance Faire
Draughtsman Aleworks in Goleta takes Halloween very seriously, with alien abductions and butcher shops gone bloody wrong as the themes of past years. For this weekend edition, they’re hosting “A Knight of the Living Dead,” combining Renaissance Faire–style medieval lore with appropriate seasonal scariness. The taproom will become an “eerie dungeon … where it can be difficult to tell where history ends and fantasy begins.”
The party starts on Friday, October 30, at 6 p.m. with music by Joystix, followed by DJ Frew at 9 p.m., as Zapp Thai serves food until 8 p.m. Guests are encouraged to dress up appropriately. “Forget the traditional kings, queens, lords and ladies,” reads the press release. “This is a Renaissance Faire with a decidedly darker twist. Guests are encouraged to come dressed in elaborate period garb, fairy wings, pirate gear, or whatever creative mashup inspires them.”
While Friday is the big party, the dungeon actually opens on October 26 and will be on display through Halloween night. See draughtsmenaleworks.com.
Dusk Til Dawn @ Dusk
Already happening every Tuesday through Sunday at Dusk at The Drift Hotel on State Street is the annual From Dusk Til Dawn pop-up, with a seasonal menu of cocktails paired with Halloween-ish decor and scary movies screening on the walls. See @duskbarsb.
Biting Burlesque at Pearl Social
Holidaze Burlesque is bringing “Stay for a Bite” at Pearl Social, where you can enjoy dinner and a specially styled shows at 9 p.m. on October 22 and 23. Get tickets here.
Carn-Evil in Ojai
The Dutchess in Ojai is apparently big on Halloween too, this year hosting Carn-Evil with games, a costume contest, tattoos, a deejay, and more. This party is free and starts at 7 p.m.
More Events That Aren’t on Halloween
There’s a lot more happening outside of the Halloween theme. Here are a few more.
Bourbons at Cutler’s Public House: Ian Cutler will share his wisdom this Saturday, October 17, 3-5 p.m., in a presentation called “A World of Bourbon.” The event starts with a welcome drink and distillery tour, following by a guided tasting of bourbons, each of which paired with a small bite. Limited to 15 guests, the event costs $65 each. See CutlersArtisan.com.
Wines at Vintners Fest: I’m up in Seattle as you read this, so I’ll be missing the Vintners Fest this year. Its 42nd annual edition is on Saturday, October 17, at the Firestone Estate in the Santa Ynez Valley, where you can find the most Santa Barbara County wines being poured in the same place, plus plenty of great food and entertainment. Tickets range from $35 for non-alcohol access up to $175 for early access. Details are at sbvintnersweekend.com.
Museum of Natural History’s Fall Tasting Fest: Hoping to expand the success of their annual summer wine & food festival to the autumn, the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History is hosting its first ever Fall Tasting Festival on Saturday, November 7, 2-5 p.m. There will be wine, beer, and spirits, as well as lots of food. Tickets range in price from $125 to $165 for early entry. See sbnature.org/visit/calendar/9128/santa-barbara-fall-tasting-festival.
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